What are the symptoms of measles?

Measles is the most serious of the three diseases. It is a highly infectious illness spread by droplets from the nose and mouth.

Common symptoms include: fever, rash, loss of appetite, tiredness, cough, runny nose, painful red eyes, ear infections, diarrhoea. Children who get measles usually have to spend about 5 days in bed and have 10–14 days off school, if there are no serious complications.

Serious complications include: pneumonia, fever induced convulsions or fits, inflammation of the brain (encephalitis). Children may be hospitalised. A rare late complication of measles is subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE), which causes progressive brain damage and is always fatal.

What are the symptoms of mumps?

Mumps is less contagious than measles. Mumps is usually a mild disease in children. However, serious complications can occur.

Common symptoms include: low grade fever, loss of appetite, tiredness, headache, general aches and pains, runny nose, painful and swollen glands in the cheeks, neck or under the jaw. These symptoms usually go away within 10 days or so.

Serious complications include: inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis), inflammation of the brain (encephalitis), partial or complete deafness. Adolescent boys may experience painful, swollen testicles, which very rarely causes infertility. Mumps may cause spontaneous miscarriage during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy.

What are the symptoms of rubella?

Rubella, which is also known as German measles, is usually a mild disease. However, rubella can have serious consequences for children and pregnant women. Rubella infection will normally last for 48–72 hours.

Congenital rubella: If a woman catches rubella during the first 3 months of her pregnancy, the virus almost always causes serious birth defects in her unborn child including deafness, blindness, heart defects and intellectual impairment.

We acknowledge that the National Centre for Immunisation Research & Surveillance (NCIRS) is on the land of the traditional owners the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the First Australians, and recognise their culture, history, diversity and their deep connection to the land. Together, through research and partnership, we aim to move to a place of equity for all. NCIRS also acknowledges and pays respect to other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations from which our research, staff and community are drawn.

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Our website meets the criteria for credibility and content as defined by the Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety.

We acknowledge that the National Centre for Immunisation Research & Surveillance (NCIRS) is on the land of the traditional owners the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the First Australians, and recognise their culture, history, diversity and their deep connection to the land. Together, through research and partnership, we aim to move to a place of equity for all. NCIRS also acknowledges and pays respect to other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations from which our research, staff and community are drawn.